


Manhood

by lynnmonster



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Gangbang, M/M, Multi, magical pon farr, possible underage, screwball comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-06-23
Updated: 2005-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-08 04:28:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynnmonster/pseuds/lynnmonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuuri's coming of age ceremony is approaching.  Yuuri really, really needs to learn to ask more questions. And Wolfram learns to share.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Manhood

**Author's Note:**

> All beta thanks and title blame to thehoyden!

"Have you chosen who is to act as witness for the seal ceremony on your birthday, Yuuri?" Conrad asked. Yuuri realized that his entourage had stopped and were waiting silently, surrounding him with expectant faces. Faces that loomed awfully close, all of a sudden.

"Oh! Hmm. You, of course, Conrad." The other two seemed to deflate, while Conrad seemed to be standing suddenly taller. 

"Does ... does your majesty perhaps require anyone else?" Günter asked with a wistful note in his voice.

"All of you, of course!" Yuuri replied. Günter erupted into paroxysms of joy, clutching Yuuri close and weeping out his barely-comprehensible gratitude. 

"I _knew_ it," Wolfram said bitterly. He snatched Yuuri out of Günter's arms and shook him hard. "WHAT ABOUT ME?" he demanded.

"Uh--" Yuuri held up his hands in front of him, waving them frantically in hopes of calming Wolfram down. "Wolfram! I couldn't possibly do this without you." Wolfram was still glaring at him, so he pulled out his trump card. "_You_ are my fiancé, after all."

"And don't you forget it!" Wolfram yelled into Yuuri's face, and stepped back, crossing his arms into a stubborn pose. "I should probably be surprised that you're not inviting Gwendal, too."

"Oh, but I'll definitely need to ask him," Yuuri said, and even Günter quieted at that. "Er, should I invite any of the girls?"

"NO!" his companions shouted in unison.

"Oh, so ... I guess it's a guy thing?"

"In this case, yes," answered Günter swiftly, tucking his arm around Yuuri's shoulders. Yuuri looked up at him. 

"Should I invite Murata, too?"

"Perhaps you have enough witnesses as it is," suggested Conrad soothingly, as he blocked Wolfram's murderous lunge toward Yuuri with an outstretched arm.

"Ah, I guess that's it, then," Yuri shrugged. He resumed his progress along the hallway, but was forced to stop short by Wolfram's unmoving stance in front of him. Wolfram glared at him in silence for a few moments. Yuuri smiled back rather weakly. 

"Hmph. Fine then," Wolfram conceded with a toss of his head. "I guess I might have to stop calling you 'wimp' after this, at any rate."

"His Majesty is truly remarkable," Günter agreed, dabbing at the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Huh?" Yuuri asked, but everyone was already walking away.

***

He tried to ask for clarification, later, he really _tried_. But Günter would always interrupt him with a flying tackle before he'd even gotten half his question out, with his usual declarations of "Ah! Your Majesty has such an amazing capacity for love! Such a warm heart! Such generosity of spirit!" and on and on until Yuuri would be lucky to get himself disentangled and away in under fifteen minutes.

Wolfram just started hitting him with things and shouting, pausing only for demands of "Am I not supposed to be the most important one to you?" and wails of "What am I supposed to tell our _daughter_?" Then he went back to calling Yuuri names and throwing any objects at hand until Yuuri was forced to flee.

The one time he'd stuttered out a question at Conrad, he'd just clasped Yuuri on the shoulder and said warmly, "Don't worry. You are my Maou, and I will be proud to guide you into manhood." Which Yuuri supposed made sense; getting his own seal was kind of a coming-of-age thing, as far as he could tell. He was still no clearer on what the ceremony would actually entail, but for Conrad, that had been the equivalent of a lengthy speech, so Yuuri knew it would be useless to ask him again. 

Gwendel was Yuuri's last, best hope for information. But he turned out to be no help at all -- he'd just looked off to the side and handed Yuuri a crocheted ... something ... that had sparkling threads woven into the yarn and bore an unnerving resemblance to a spiderweb version of the underwear pressed upon him when he'd first arrived in New Mazoku.

***

The women didn't seem to have anything at all to say about the ceremony itself, and Yuuri was reluctant to ask them in case it was forbidden for women to talk about, or know about, or something. But Anissina did inquire if he'd settled on a design for his personal seal yet, and unwittingly sent Yuuri into an entirely new panic.

He mentioned it to Wolfram, who immediately offered to help him come up with a design. Yuuri had no idea what Wolfram thought were appropriate symbols, though, because the picture was almost completely obscured by the treatise on chastity meant to be etched onto the front.

Günter's suggestion made Yuuri uncomfortable to look at, since it was just an artist's rendering of him with longer hair and fewer clothes than he'd ever be caught dead in.

"Nice sand bear," he told Gwendal. 

"No. Kitty." Gwendal insisted. Yuuri thanked him politely and backed out of the room.

Conrad simply said, "It is for you to decide." 

Yuuri thought he'd probably go with a baseball theme.

***

The baseball idea went over surprisingly well. "Maybe I should have a pitcher silhouetted in the foreground?" Yuuri mused.

Conrad coughed and turned faintly red. "Perhaps -- ah," and Yuuri was worried that Conrad was going to start coughing again, the way he was wheezing. "--Perhaps a catcher might be more appropriate?"

"But so far, I've pretty much just played first base," said Yuuri. "Oh, I know! A batter! And the ball he's swinging at could be shaped like one of those Maou dumplings that T-zou ate."

This was met with relieved murmurs of agreement all around, and the castle artist was called in to go over the details of the design.

***

Cheri had insisted on formal state dinners for the entire week leading up to Yuuri's birthday. Yuuri had learned enough to pick his battles, and acceded with fairly good grace.

He was concentrating on trying to cut his steak without knocking over the fancy candelabra at his elbow when Cheri wrapped her arms around him from behind and started rubbing his cheek with her own. "My cute little Maou! How well you've grown this past year," she cooed. 

"Thank you," Yuuri said politely.

"So... have you made all the arrangements you need for your ceremony yet?" Cheri asked in her winningest wheedling voice.

"Mother!" came a chorus of horrified shouts from around the table.

"Ummm, I'm not sure?" Yuuri answered. "Do I need to make any arrangements?" he asked the table at large.

"Your Majesty, please leave everything to u-- to whomever you have chosen to witness your coming of age," said Günter. _Okay_, noted Yuuri. _Witnesses were obviously supposed to be secret_. 

Cheri pouted. 

"The one being ushered into adulthood is not involved in the planning," Gwendal explained.

"Why not?" asked Yuuri.

"That would be stupid," said Wolfram, waving his fork in the air. "It's obvious. You can't possibly know what to do -- you haven't been through the ceremony yet."

"I see," said Yuuri, although he really didn't. It was _his_ birthday, wasn't it? He poked at his dumplings as Conrad introduced a new thread of conversation. He got the feeling that the topic was closed.

***

The fateful morning dawned bright and clear. Yuuri stretched, kissed his sleeping daughter on the forehead, and in a fit of high spirits, pecked Wolfram on the cheek as well.

"...head start?" mumbled Wolfram in his sleep. Yuuri's brow wrinkled and he paused. Was Wolfram really talking to him, or just dreaming? "Wimp," said Wolfram, returning to his normal sleep-talk. 

Yuuri left him to his dreams and headed to the wardrobe to change. Maybe Conrad would agree to play baseball with him this morning instead of their usual training -- it _was_ his birthday, after all. He whistled cheerfully all the way to the kitchen.

***

"That was great! Did you see that? Did you see?!?" He didn't think he'd ever hit a ball so far; it had been an undeniable home run by the standards of anyone at all.

"I did," assured Conrad, his eyes twinkling warmly. They were such dear eyes. Yuuri felt lightheaded and strange, like he could get lost just staring into their depths, and was suddenly overcome with a wave of gratitude and desperate affection.

"Conrad, I -- _Conrad_," he said, helplessly.

"Yes? Oh. _Oh_. I think that's enough baseball for today, okay?" Yuuri thought he remembered Conrad leading him back inside by the hand after that, but he was a little fuzzy on the details.

***

He ate lunch in a small, private side room with all of his witnesses and No Servants Allowed. They gave him some bitter tea that seemed to clear his head a bit, but not before he'd missed some important-sounding talk about "already" and "so precocious" and "cheater."

Gwendal leaned across the small dining table and told him intently, "We should move the schedule up a bit."

Günter placed a concerned hand on Yuuri's arm and said gently, "Is that all right, Your Majesty?"

Yuuri shrugged. "What schedule?"

"You don't need to ask him," said Wolfram somewhat bitterly. "He's probably all for it anyway, isn't he, _Conrad_."

"You're right," said Gwendal, earning him surprised looks from everyone else at the table. "Didn't you tell me he kissed you this morning already?"

Wolfram blushed and Günter and Conrad's heads swiveled around to gape at him. "Well. Yes," he agreed, somewhat mollified by the situation. After a brief pause, everybody quietly resumed eating.

Yuuri had finished his soup a while ago, but kept sucking on his spoon. It didn't taste like soup at all any longer, but it was still ... filling, somehow. Kind of like snacking when he was sort of bored, only ... more. "Mo mwen'd de eremmongee?" he asked.

Four pairs of widened eyes stared back at him in shock.

"Mmmuh? Oh," he pulled the spoon out of his mouth with a wet pop. "So when's the ceremony?" he repeated.

"_Right now_, apparently!" said Günter, his voice edging high enough to pass urgency and flirt with hysteria. 

"Günter, calm down," said Yuuri, reaching out to stroke his hair. "Hey, it's pretty. It's so pretty. Why did I never realize how pretty your hair was?"

"Conrad, get the ropes," Gwendal ordered, as Günter melted under Yuuri's touch and Wolfram started yelling again.

***

Yuuri found himself hustled into an unfamiliar bedchamber, with a tapestry featuring his chosen seal design hanging above the latticed headboard of the truly enormous bed. "Hey, that's my seal!" he crowed, lunging forward to touch the design and narrowly escaping Gwendal's grasp in the process. He was amazed at the speed and skill with which it had been completed -- it had been less than a week since he'd come up with the idea, after all.

He bounced up and down on the bed again, unaware of the four pairs of hands that were trying to latch onto him, and landed on his back in a spread-eagled flop. 

He blinked, as he registered the fact that he had one of his witnesses pinning down each of his appendages, and that they seemed to be tying silken _ropes_ to his wrists and ankles as they held him down. His arms were drawn up above his head and tied directly to the headboard itself, and the ropes attached to his ankles disappeared over the bottom corners of the bed.

"That's just great, Gwendal," Wolfram bitched. "Now how are we supposed to get his clothes off?"

Gwendal shrugged and Conrad said "We'll just cut them off," with rather more enthusiasm than anyone expected to hear.

"Oh, good," said Yuuri. "I'm feeling kind of hot. And I think this fabric's starting to itch."

Günter immediately placed a worried hand on Yuuri's brow, and Yuuri butted his forehead against the coolness of his palm. "Ahh, that feels good. God, I love you guys!"

Wolfram snorted, and Conrad leaned over Yuuri, a warm look in his soft brown eyes. "We love you, too, Your Majesty."

"Yuuri," he corrected.

"_Yuuri_. We love you too."

Gwendal, who had been removing Yuuri's shoes, merely commented, "Cute toes."

***

Conrad took out his sword and sliced through Yuuri's clothing like it was paper. Yuuri sighed in immediate relief; the itching had become almost painful. He was getting hotter and more disoriented by the minute, especially with Günter starting to oil him down like that. The oils were warm, and tingled on his skin, and Yuuri started twisting back and forth under Günter's hands and making a noise in his throat until Wolfram grabbed both sides of his face and kissed him. 

It wasn't a question of liking the kiss, or being surprised by it, or paying any attention at all to what was, to be honest, his first real kiss ever. It just felt like something essential, it gave him some relief, and he kissed Wolfram back like this was the best idea either of them had ever had. (It quite possibly was.) And when Gwendal started sucking on Yuuri's toes he arched up and cried out into Wolfram's mouth and tried to grab his face right back, but couldn't maneuver his trussed arms. Wolfram swallowed the sound and then bit Yuuri's lip before he pulled back, looking kind of dazed and rumpled for a change. And when Yuuri said, "I think I'm going to like being married to you," in pleased wonder, Wolfram actually _blushed_ and ran his fingers through Yuuri's hair.

Günter stopped rubbing the oil into Yuuri's skin. He straightened up and clapped his hands together for attention. "Now, who has the list?"

Conrad unbuttoned the middle three buttons of his uniform jacket and pulled out a scroll. Wolfram made a grab for it, but Conrad held it up over his head, out of reach. Gwendal plucked the list out of Conrad's hand from behind and started unrolling it on top of the trunk at the foot of the bed. All four Mazokou leaned down to read the parchment, and there were occasional grunts of assent or sounds of dismay. Gwendal stabbed the scroll angrily with his finger, and Wolfram and Günter started to argue with him in hissing whispers, but when Conrad asked if everyone had finished reviewing their roles, there was a murmur of acknowledgment from everyone, and Conrad let the parchment scroll back into shape with a snap.

"Can I see?" asked Yuuri, feeling slippery and hot and needy from his position all alone on the bed. He squirmed, and his oiled skin made it easy to turn his arms and legs within the loops of his bonds, but he couldn't free himself, and was feeling more and more frustrated by the moment. A vaguely familiar aura of blue energy sprang up and started crackling along his skin. 

"Do not worry, Your Majesty! We'll be with you in just a moment!" 

"Well, hurry it up," said Yuuri, in an unusually commanding tone. He'd been abandoned, and he didn't _like_ that, and the more upset he got, the more strongly the ghostly blue flames danced. "Or else I think I might have to let the water dragons out."

***

There was a clatter of unsheathing, unbuckling, unbuttoning, unzipping, and undressing as the witnesses hastily divested themselves of armaments, ornaments, and clothing. Conrad snatched up his fallen dagger and Günter took possession of the oil again. Conrad slashed the rope holding Yuuri's right ankle, tossed the knife aside, and pushed Yuuri's leg over to the other end of the bed, twisting him onto his side.

Günter started to smooth the oil into the backs of Yuuri's legs while Conrad held him in position, and Yuuri couldn't help but moan. The blue light flickering all over his body grew brighter and thicker where he was being touched. Günter handed off the bowl of oil to Conrad and circled to the other side of the bed, and Yuuri noted that he was really, really naked. Naked Günter leaned forward and spoke directly to Yuuri. "Now, Your Majesty, please do not be frightened. According to the traditions of the seal ceremony, you must join with each of your witnesses at least once so that there can be a true mingling of your auras. Your powers will then recognize one another afterwards -- or your auras, if one participant doesn't have any maryoku, although that requires something a little more ... intimate. It's a truly beautiful way of creating a lasting bond between Mazoku." 

Yuuri nodded in a way that he hoped conveyed understanding but really meant "hurry up and get on with it."

Gwendal came up behind Günter and encircled his bare chest with one arm. "I still remember my own seal ceremony with great fondness," he rumbled. Günter looked delighted and placed the palm of his hand on Gwendal's cheek, turning to plant a brief kiss on the corner of his mouth. 

Wolfram's jaw dropped, Yuuri sighed, and Conrad drew circles around Yuuri's asshole with a slick fingertip. 

"Ahhh!" The blue aura surged and Yuuri flailed ineffectually for a moment. He stilled at the feel of Conrad's large palms on his buttocks, which pressed them apart to expose him to the air. When Conrad's tongue touched the furl of tender skin at the center, Yuuri started to wail, and as when Conrad's tongue dipped just barely inside, his aura flared large enough to engulf the entire bed. 

Conrad's tongue plunged deeper and Yuuri shuddered. "That's it, you're doing so well," Günter said, and knelt by the side of the bed, nudging Gwendal back to his old position by Yuuri's feet. Gwendal took over holding Yuuri's free leg down and massaged his feet while Günter slid his oiled hand up and down the length of Yuuri's cock.

Yuuri's hips snapped forward and Günter's hand sped up.

He wasn't sure whether the colors dancing in front of his eyes were aura-induced or just the signal of an impending blackout, but then Wolfram crawled onto the pillow next to his and started kissing him again and he found that he really didn't care. His guts twisted heavily with invasion and arousal when Conrad slipped a couple of fingers into him as Günter swallowed his cock and Gwendal sucked his toes again in a moment of purely _brilliant_ choreography. His eyes were screwed tightly shut, but he could _feel_ his maryoku reaching out and melding with everyone else's -- it gave him a sense of internal double-vision, which only contributed to the overwhelming sensory input he was experiencing.

His fractured attention contracted to one focal point as he was breached by the blunt thickness of Conrad's cockhead, and he broke away from Wolfram's mouth as he surged deeper into Günter's. Conrad's strong arms circled him snugly, anchoring around his chest, and he was half-lifted off the mattress as Conrad pushed _up_ and _in_ with devastating steadiness.

Yuuri pressed backward, and Conrad answered him by pulling almost all the way out and then thrusting slowly, achingly deep. Yuuri bucked, trying to speed the slow and steady thrusts, but Conrad's arms were a vise around his torso and all his efforts were fruitless. He kicked out with his free foot, trying to get some leverage, but only succeeding in knocking Gwendal in the chin. Gwendal abandoned Yuuri's toes and held a hand to his face. Günter petted Yuuri's hip soothingly and sucked harder, and Yuuri thrust into his throat, choking him and causing him to back off. 

Yuuri wanted to order them all to _Hurry, Hurry, Now Now NOW_ but all he could manage was a whining "Nnnngh" in the back of his throat. 

It must have been enough, though, because Conrad pulled all the way out and clambered over him, pushing Yuuri all the way onto his back again. He swiftly scooped up Yuuri's free leg behind the knee and lifted it as he pressed forward, sliding easily back into him. The others merely watched as he rocked his hips, plunging into Yuuri over and over and hitting a spot that made Yuuri's eyes roll back. 

As he thrashed his head from side to side, Yuuri could _feel_ his hair growing longer, spreading out over the pillow, brushing against his lashes, and tickling his shoulders in a way that would be distracting if his attention wasn't completely busy elsewhere. He couldn't see, he could barely _breathe_, his body was being completely taken over by raw power and quivering lust and the way Conrad was turning him inside out, hard and slow.

When Conrad started jerking him off, Yuuri's eyes flew open. When Conrad leaned forward and kissed him, Yuuri came all over his hand amidst a blinding flare of blue.

"Conrad! His mouth is _mine_!" Wolfram snapped.

Yuuri sucked on Conrad's tongue and whimpered in protest when it was pulled away from him. "Sorry," said Conrad, sounding more than a little smug. "Now hold on." He lifted Yuuri's leg higher and straightened his back. Wrung-out and hazy, Yuuri watched Conrad's stomach muscles work beneath a sheen of sweat as he worked his hips with increasing speed and intensity. Yuuri wallowed in the sensation of Conrad moving inside of him, strong and fast and sure. Yuuri wasn't sure he ever wanted it to stop. Conrad's motions were near-frantic, though, and later Yuuri would swear that he *felt* Conrad grow larger a moment before he grimaced and stilled completely. Conrad surged inside him again and came with a shuddering groan, dropping his head down as if a string had been cut. 

Conrad pushed into him a couple more times as he softened. When he slid out completely, Yuuri vaguely expected him to move forward, not inch his way further down the bed. 

He _certainly_ didn't expect Conrad to slide his hands under his buttocks and lift him up to his mouth again.

Yuuri's roar as Conrad licked his hole and started to drink rattled the headboard and sent a blast of air slamming around the room. His subdued maryoku crackled to violent life again, and as Conrad sucked his own essence out of Yuuri's body, it shook Yuuri all the way down to his bones. He felt the pull of his aura as it stretched and altered and mingled with Conrad's, finally quieting as Conrad licked him one last time and let him slide back onto the surface of the bed.

"Wow," breathed Yuuri. There was an awed murmur of assent from the peanut gallery.

"Unf," Conrad said, crawling up the bed and passing out face-down onto a pillow.

***

Günter knelt next to the bed and hesitantly pulled Yuuri onto his side again. "Your Majesty? I promise we'll be gentle, but -- do you think you can continue?"

"_More_," Yuuri said, and he must have gained some more control over his maryoku during the bonding, because with just a thought, a whipcord of blue electricity snapped out and wrapped itself around Günter. Günter was half-dragged closer, although the insistent light relaxed its hold on him when he ducked his head and started to suck Yuuri back to hardness.

"_More_," Yuuri said again, with growing urgency.

"Perhaps we should have let him ask the Great Sage, after all," Gwendal murmured to Wolfram somewhat worriedly. "And maybe some of the women."

Wolfram scoffed. "He won't be needing anybody else," he shot back over his shoulder, before getting onto the mattress and settling to his knees by Yuuri's pillow. He stroked the side of Yuuri's face with a tenderness that gave lie to his brusque words, and eventually let his fingers wander over to trace the bottom of Yuuri's lip. Yuuri moaned and sucked Wolfram's thumb right into his mouth. "That's right," said Wolfram softly, rocking the digit in and out of Yuuri's mouth, rubbing Yuuri's lips with his wet thumb and then pushing it back in again. 

Yuuri made a hungry sound and thrust his hips involuntarily. Günter hummed his appreciation around him, reaching down to stroke himself, and Yuuri sucked Wolfram's thumb almost viciously hard.

Wolfram used his thumb to tug Yuuri's jaw down, kissing his open mouth wetly around his finger. 

"_More_," Yuuri pleaded as soon as he'd stopped. 

"Okay, yes, shh, okay," Wolfram said, scooting closer on his knees. He stroked Yuuri's cheek one last time before bending over him, supporting himself with one hand while he pointed his cock at Yuuri's mouth with the other. "Here's more," he said, and pressed in past Yuuri's lips.

Yuuri's eyes fluttered shut and he gratefully started to suck. A mantle of bliss stole over him as he moved his own head forward and back in time with Günter's rhythmic motions around him. Time, place, self -- any awareness he had was lost in the hypnotic ebb and flow for which he was simply a conduit. The power of Yuuri's aura lapped around the trio, engulfing them in a gently pulsing glow. 

Their slick, sliding harmony thrummed with building heat. When Gwendal wedged himself between Conrad and Yuuri and slid his cock into the small gap between Yuuri's oiled thighs, all four men shuddered as the encompassing glow expanded yet again. Gwendal's thrusts brushed against Yuuri's balls, Yuuri grew even harder against Günter's tongue, and Wolfram started plunging desperately in and out of Yuuri's greedy mouth.

Bathed in the shimmering light, the four of them started to move frantically, ramping up to a fever pitch. _Close, so close, so very very close_. The tidal surge of sensation became a looming tsunami that hovered, paused, and then crashed into the four of them, triggering their orgasms as their maryoku joined in a single, multicolored blast of power.

***

When Yuuri came to his senses, the room was dark, and the air was heavy with the sound of labored breathing. He craned his neck and strained to see. There were a few darker lumps -- his witnesses -- but he couldn't see what they were doing, although Gwendal was still and quiet behind him.

"Guys? Hey, guys?" he said. "Is it over?" He thought that it probably _was_ -- his mind wasn't so cloudy any more, and if he thought about it hard enough, he could sort of sense the others around him, even without looking. He wondered if the effect would last.

He also wondered why everyone was so silent.

"...Guys? Hello? Can somebody untie me?"

***

Yuuri had fallen asleep with his arms still trussed above his head, and his left foot had gone numb from being tied for so long. He woke up to painful pins and needles as Gwendal massaged his foot apologetically.

"Your Majesty, I've failed you!" Günter knelt and rubbed Yuuri's wrists. "You were tied up for hours, and after such a magnificent ceremony! We're not worthy to be your witnesses."

"That's okay," Yuuri assured him, pulling his hands back. "I didn't have any problem falling asleep." Günter and Gwendal were dressed again, he noted, and seemed awfully comfortable in each other's personal space. "Hey, can I get some clothes?"

Just then, Wolfram walked in carrying another of Yuuri's usual black uniforms. Inexplicably, _that_ was what made Yuuri start to blush. A small but genuine smile lit Wolfram's face, and he sat down next to Yuuri on the edge of the bed. When he handed over the pile of clothing, their hands brushed, and Yuuri purposely tangled his fingers with Wolfram's for a brief moment.

Yuuri felt a little weird with just a pile of clothes sitting on his lap, and shifted around a bit. "Ah, thank you all? Um, I'm not sure what the procedure is, but how about we all meet up for breakfast?"

"He's right, the ceremony's over," Wolfram said. "We can meet you in the dining room in half an hour."

"Good," Gwendal said, and tugged on Günter's sleeve. Günter darted in and quickly kissed Yuuri on the cheek and Wolfram on the lips before allowing himself to be hustled out.

Yuuri ducked his head. Wolfram sighed with exaggerated patience. "Go ahead and get dressed," he said indulgently. "Then we can go back to our room and wake Greta before we eat."

Yuuri scrambled into his clothes and ran a hand through his hair, which had returned to its normal length sometime during the night. "I wouldn't say no to a shower, either," he said as they departed, covertly sniffing himself.

Alone in the room with the scorched walls and shredded tapestry, Conrad slumbered on.

***

By dinnertime -- the last of the formal dinners Yuuri had agreed to -- everyone was flagging but Yuuri, Greta, and Cheri. Cheri kept asking leading questions about the night before, but although her twinkling eyes obviously suspected _something_, nobody gave any specifics away. 

Finally, she relented with fairly good grace, and -- perhaps in apology -- suggested, "Why don't I let you boys enjoy your dessert, and get Greta settled for bed?"

"That would be wonderful," Yuuri thanked her.

"I'm not tired," protested Greta.

"But it's your bedtime, Greta," said Wolfram. "Now give us our hugs, and we'll kiss you goodnight when we get back." Greta launched herself into his arms and he scooped her up in a bear hug. He squeezed her and then set her back on her feet. 

She dashed over to Yuuri, collecting her other hug, and latched onto Cheri's hand, cheerful again. "Okay, let's go! You can read me a story," she said.

"Only if you pick," said Cheri. At the door, she paused. "You know, a maryoku bond creates a deep connection that can be a great boon to a marriage," she said with a wink, and departed.

Beneath the tablecloth, Yuuri slipped his hand into Wolfram's and smiled at him. Wolfram didn't grin back or anything, but he softened around the edges even further and gave Yuuri an amorous look. Yuuri thought that maybe Cheri was right.

Then Yuuri had another thought.

"But --" Yuuri looked around the table slightly helplessly. "But -- I'm connected to ALL of you! I can still feel it!"

Günter choked on his wine, Gwendal thumped him on the back, and Conrad whipped his head up in shock.

Wolfram went slightly pale. "You can? All of us?" he asked weakly. "That's -- I mean, that's great."

"Is it?" Yuuri asked.

"I certainly think so," Conrad purred, and gave him a hot look across the table.

"Umm, we should probably go check on Greta now," Yuuri said, tugged Wolfram up, and fled.

***

It turned out, Cheri-sama was right. Ever since the ceremony, Wolfram and Yuuri seemed to fit wherever they used to clash. It wasn't unnatural, at least it didn't feel that way, but they were definitely closer -- much, much, closer, sometimes twice a night -- and there simply didn't seem to be any room left for their habitual misunderstandings.

Yuuri _worked_ better with everyone else, as well; it was the part where he seemed to want to _play_ better with them, too, that had him worried.

It wasn't really an issue at first. They all got better at not working at cross-purposes, and nobody hid things from Yuuri anymore, although they were quite welcome to hide the paperwork any time they wanted.

But one Tuesday, Yuuri went to Gwendal's office to drop off some maps he'd been studying. He pushed the door open and registered _skin_and _shoulders_ and _legs_ until the scene resolved into Günter and Gwendal wrapped around each other on top of Gwendal's desk. He pulled the door quietly shut, hunted Wolfram down in the quartermaster's office, and proceeded to molest him well past dinnertime.

Günter's persistent displays of affection -- which used to leave Yuuri with nothing more than a need for air and a general sense of being mother-henned -- now left him flushed and prickly-skinned. He found himself racing directly back to the room he and Wolfram shared after almost every single time he saw the man, and Wolfram was growing visibly less enamored of Yuuri's amorous attacks, not to mention the dark circles beginning to bloom under his eyes.

Luckily, Yuuri still had Murata and Cheri and Greta to talk to. He tried to spend a lot of time with them, even if Cheri always tried to steer the conversation towards love, and Greta kept asking for a pony.

But as Yuuri and Conrad were passing through the market stalls the next week, Conrad saved him from a perceived assassination attempt by throwing Yuuri against a wall in the nearest alley and covering him with his own body. Yuuri didn't care that it turned out to be just a couple of kids who were using vegetables as projectile weapons, he wanted them dead. _Dead_. They'd _ruined_ his _life_, because he'd thought he was in danger -- he'd thought _Conrad_ was in danger -- so when Conrad pressed against him a little harder and ducked his head, Yuuri lifted his own, and -- well, after those searingly hot kisses, he had to hunt Wolfram down and jump him again. He hadn't even noticed that Adelberd was in the parlor until he already had Wolfram halfway out of his clothes.

After the unending round of apologies for his lack of decorum, Yuuri swore nothing like that would ever happen again. 

It wouldn't have, either, if not for Gwendal, of all people. Yuuri knocked on the door to his office rather self-consciously, and Gwendal grunted for him to enter. Yuuri stepped inside and Gwendal held up a hand as he continued to write on the sheet of paper in front of him. Yuuri leaned back and waited as Gwendal worked in the sunlight streaming in from his window, his hair dangling in appealing disarray, looking focused and serious and frighteningly competent. Yuuri forced his gaze away and looked at the shelves, which were crammed full of books and scrolls and stuffed animals. The elegant lines of Gwendal's face (which, somehow, Yuuri was staring at again) and the undeniable strength of his body hid such a surprisingly fluffy heart, it made him _ache_ -- Yuuri gasped out an excuse and ran back to his bedroom. He lay on his back fully dressed and clutching at the covers helplessly, breaking out in a sweat long before the time Wolfram got home.

***

Yuuri rolled over and draped his arm around Wolfram. "No more, no more," Wolfram muttered in his sleep. Yuuri cringed. Wolfram was exhausted, lately, and it was all Yuuri's fault.

He shook Wolfram awake. He hated to do it, but he had to know. 

"What is it?" Wolfram asked, concerned even as he rubbed at his puffy eyes. 

"Sorry, I know I'm a handful right now. Um." He took a deep breath and asked, because he was finally learning it was better to ask questions than to assume anything at all. Besides, he could live with whatever the answer was, but he probably couldn't stand to live the way he had been for much longer, teetering on the edge of attractions that might be permitted or might break Wolfram's heart instead. "Is it ever going to happen again?" 

Wolfram squinted at him, puzzled.

"You know, the ceremony?" 

"Well," said Wolfram in a tired but affectionate voice, "You know, I've been thinking about that." Yuuri held his breath.

Wolfram yanked Yuuri down and kissed him on the nose. "Maybe on your birthday," he said, and grinned.

  



End file.
